Wise Highs Curriculum

Kindergarten - 6th Grade Program:

Teaching Kids to choose "Wise Highs ... Choices You Can Live With!"

The Life Education Centers (LECs) are mobile classrooms on a mission.Two mobile classrooms travel to public and private schools in Kankakee and Iroquois counties to teach some 12,000 K-6th grade students the benefits of making healthy decisions for their minds and bodies.

State-of-the-art technology, role playing and discussion are used to teach students about the human body and the dangers of its abuse as well as to provide them the skills needed to deal with peer pressure.

Electronic modules and TAM — a transparent anatomical mannequin — allows students to view the placement of their organs, how the body systems work and how chemical substances harm their function.

Fun and interesting audiovisual aids are incorporated into lessons. Karpet Kid -- a game where children place plastic replicas of the body’s organs on a child who is lying on a carpet marked with the shape of a body – is among the favorites!

Additional activities:

Best Practice Contest:The LEC sponsors a Best Practice Contest for some 600 teachers. Monetary awards of $100, $50 and $25 are awarded every year to teachers at each grade level who develop the most creative reinforcement activity for their students.

Billboard contest:Every year, the LEC enlists the talents of its 5th and 6th grade students to assist in promoting its anti-substance abuse message. Incorporating the theme of “Wise Highs . . . Choices You Can Live With,” students develop artwork that is used for publication on billboards throughout Kankakee and Iroquois counties.